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Tag Archive for: INVEST in America Act

What to Expect from Federal Support for Biking in 2021

January 13, 2021/by Kevin Claxton

Next week, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be president and vice president. Control of the Senate will flip to the Democrats. This change in power could make a big difference in funding and support for biking and walking this year and beyond. With thanks to our national partners, the League of American Bicyclists, here’s what we’re looking forward to under the new administration.

Amtrak Joe

Joe Biden is famous for being a train commuter. We’ve seen him ride a bike. Those facts alone are a massive improvement over a golf cart president who gets driven everywhere.

But we have high hopes that a Biden administration will do much more to promote active transportation. Biden’s cabinet appointments have delivered on his promise to prioritize climate change. He has created a new cabinet-level position of U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and appointed John Kerry to the role. In addition, the new administration promises that every executive branch department will address climate change. 

Department of Transportation

The most critical appointment for active transportation is the head of the US Department of Transportation. We are heartened by Biden’s choice of Pete Buttigieg for Transportation Secretary. Among the presidential candidates, Buttigieg was one of only two candidates whose transportation platform earned a perfect score from Transportation for America. As mayor of South Bend, he helped the city get Silver Level status from the League, making it among the most bike-friendly cities in the midwest. Plus, as a former mayor, he should have a good grasp of the crucial role of safe biking and walking infrastructure in building resilient communities.

The USDOT can do a lot for biking and walking. Buttigieg will appoint his own deputies to oversee the agency’s $86 billion budget. These officials will be responsible for enforcing safety, equity, and efficiency in federal transportation spending.  

For example, for the last four years, new safety regulations at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have been gathering dust. That’s thanks to an executive order forcing agencies to get rid of two regulations for every new one they implement. We expect Biden to revoke this order. Under a Biden administration, expect to see more safety regulations that benefit people biking and walking. 

A Democratic Congress

The new Democratic majority in both houses of Congress comes at a fortuitous time for transportation policy. Every five to six years, Congress writes a long-term transportation funding bill. In 2020, CalBike and many of you supported a new federal transportation funding bill called the INVEST In America Act to set national priorities for the next six years. The bill had many bike-friendly provisions, but Congress didn’t pass the bill before the 2020 elections. 

With Democratic control of the Senate, Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) will become Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee responsible for writing the transportation bill. Politico reports that he is scrapping the old version to write a new version that will implement President Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda. 

Two newly elected Senators will be champions of bicycling. Mark Kelly of Arizona is a bike commuter. Colorado’s John Hickenlooper invested heavily in bicycling when he was governor. These changes make significant improvements on the provisions in the INVEST In America Act a real possibility.

 

What to look for in the 2021 transportation bill

We hope to see some of CalBike’s key priorities added to the new transportation funding bill. For example, we hope to see a bikeway network grant program that will reward cities that build safe, low-stress bikeways. Our communities need bike networks that connect destinations, even when those routes are politically challenging to develop because of parking or traffic impacts. The current bill creates this vital program, thanks to lobbying from our national partners. However, the 2020 version funds the program with a measly one-time $250 million allocation. CalBike is pressing for $500 million in annual funding over the five-year lifespan of the bill.  Other national priorities now on the table include a “complete streets” requirement for all federally-funded projects and generous tax credits to businesses and individuals for bike-related expenses.

Of course, our most important work remains at the state level. But having a supportive national government will push our Governor and legislature to do even better.  We will keep you posted on the progress of the 2021 transportation funding bill.

https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/US-capitol-1-scaled.jpg 1706 2560 Kevin Claxton https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.png Kevin Claxton2021-01-13 16:33:392021-01-13 17:17:34What to Expect from Federal Support for Biking in 2021

New Federal Transportation Bill Includes Major Investments for Biking

June 23, 2020/by Jared Sanchez

Update: On July 1, 202o, the INVEST Act passed the House! Now it will face a much harder journey through the Senate. 

The federal government will improve its support of bicycling if lawmakers approve the INVEST in America Act, pending in Congress right now. This federal transportation bill programs $494 billion in transportation funding over the next five years. It dedicates approximately $7 billion to alternative transportation, including biking and walking.

In addition, the Bicycle Commuter Act is pending in Congress. This bill would extend the tax-exempt employer subsidy for parking or transit to bicycling. This would reinstate an improved version of the bicycle commuter benefit that was removed by Congress in the 2017 tax overhaul. 

The INVEST in America Act increases funding in the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) by 60%. That is the main program that provides federal funds for biking and walking. The program gets approximately 1.4% of total federal transportation funding. 

More important than the amount of funding for TAP are the rules that govern how the entire $494 billion is spent. Congress doesn’t explicitly direct how each state can spend its share. That means we can press California to allocate additional funds to Complete Streets and other biking and walking programs.

National partners lobby hard for more funding for bikes

The League of American Bicyclists is lobbying for bicycle funding at the national level. They have won increased transparency and more local control of the Transportation Alternatives Program. They have ensured that funds in other programs, including the $49 billion set aside for local roads, remain eligible to support bicycle infrastructure and programs. Local and state advocacy will be important to ensure that states spend federal transportation dollars on alternative transportation projects.

Another highlight of the bill is a new Active Transportation Connectivity Grant Program. This  is a $250 million, one-year grant program for states and local governments to build active transportation networks, spines (connections between communities) and Complete Streets plans. The League is working to get this expanded into an annual program instead of  one-time funding. 

Next steps for the INVEST Act

Right now, the INVEST Act is a partisan-drafted bill of the Democratic-led House of Representatives. It may look drastically different after amendments from Republican representatives in the coming days and weeks. 

Congressional leaders may decide they have a good compromise and pass the bill this year. Or Democratic leaders in the House may choose to wait until next year, in hopes of a more Democratic government. In that case, they would simply extend the existing federal transportation authorization, Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, passed by a Republican Congress and signed by Democratic President Obama in 2015. 

If you want to learn more about this new federal transportation bill, please read the League’s summary. At CalBike, we will continue to track what’s happening at the national level. We will ensure that California commits to safe and equitable biking using new national funding sources. In the coming days, we may need your support to keep the biking provisions strong and get the bill signed into law. Given the short timeline of Congress, amendments will move quickly. Please stay tuned!

https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/thumbnail_bike_subsidies.jpg 246 329 Jared Sanchez https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.png Jared Sanchez2020-06-23 16:17:432020-07-08 19:41:53New Federal Transportation Bill Includes Major Investments for Biking

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